Reproductive performance of laying snails fed on roughages and different concentrate mix

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the reproduction output of Archachatina marginata fed on roughage and concentrate feed with leaf meal inclusive diets. 150 point of lay snails weighing between 150-170g were randomly allotted to 5 treatment diets with ten (10) replicates, three (3) snails per replicate, desig-nated as treatment 2 (GNCD) which has groundnut cake, Treatment 3 (GLLM) has Gliricidia sepium, Treatment 4 (MOLM) Moringa oliefera and Treatment 5 (LLLM) has Leucaena leucocephala leaf meals as protein source in snail diet and a control; treatment 1 (UPWP) fed roughage (unripe pawpaw and wa-termelon peel) in a 12 weeks feed trail. Feed intake, weight gain, egg lay, egg fertility, and hatchability and Gonado-somatic index were measured. The result revealed snails fed UPWP had least final weight and weight gain which was accompanied by the highest feed intake across the treatments. Average egg laid, hatchability, fertility, embryo mortality and average juvenile produced by snails on roughage-based diet were significantly least across the treatments. High gonado-somatic index of snails on leaf meal based diet accompanied with better reproductive output in laying snails were recorded. Snails fed Leucaena leucocephala inclusive diet had better egg production, fertility, hatchability and juvenile snails accompanied with gonado-somatic index across the treatments. In conclusion, concentrate ration is essential for optimal reproductive output in snails.